Boat builder recommendation

[Albion]

I am trying to say , clearly not clearly enough, that we can only compare like with like. I aren`t looking to buy a boat , ( indeed I`m trying sell one ) so I can afford to have expensive tastes that appeal to me as an admirer of the best available. Does the original poster want the best available at a particular price or at any price ?

I did not deliberately pick your post out. I should have read the whole stream more carefully perhaps but my response was triggered by the trend rather than the actual . The words I used were unfortunate and the result of a very long and very frustrating day. There is a whole colossal range of boats I would not wish to buy if I had freedom to choose that could well be the very best choice for a person whose requirements would differ from mine . I have long defended Springers for instance but , the way my life has developed and moved on I wouldn`t want one to save my life. And , before anybody bites , I still admire Springers for the position they gladly adopted and the number of people they got on the water. Neither am I suggesting that any boat builder named here should be compared with Springer. I should also say that whatever horrors I may have discovered while painting relatively inexpensive boats have been matched and even topped by a couple of extremely expensive ones .

As you say , Dave Clarke has been bulding boats for a very long time and he has been very successful and Im pleased that he and many other s are managing to survive when it`s not that easy. This clearly shows that his boats very well suit the market he is aiming them at ( and that isn`t a loaded comment )

and could equally suit the person who started this off. Without more information though we can`t know that. If however I was absolutely loaded and wanted an Italian supercar I wouldn`t go to the wrong part of the market looking for one.

 

 

Well said Phil. You can't make yourself any clearer than that. Some people can afford a Mini but it doesn't stop them admiring a Rolls Royce. Others can afford a Rolls Royce and buy one. Neither person is wrong it is just that some superb products cost more than some people can afford, or perhaps justify buying. There are some boats at the top end of the market that are consistently superb and worth every penny. There are others that are quite expensive and yet, if you know a good boat and steelwork, are a bit over-rated for what they cost. The skill comes in knowing which is which.

Roger

[denboy]

I am trying to say , clearly not clearly enough, that we can only compare like with like. I aren`t looking to buy a boat , ( indeed I`m trying sell one ) so I can afford to have expensive tastes that appeal to me as an admirer of the best available. Does the original poster want the best available at a particular price or at any price ?

I did not deliberately pick your post out. I should have read the whole stream more carefully perhaps but my response was triggered by the trend rather than the actual . The words I used were unfortunate and the result of a very long and very frustrating day. There is a whole colossal range of boats I would not wish to buy if I had freedom to choose that could well be the very best choice for a person whose requirements would differ from mine . I have long defended Springers for instance but , the way my life has developed and moved on I wouldn`t want one to save my life. And , before anybody bites , I still admire Springers for the position they gladly adopted and the number of people they got on the water. Neither am I suggesting that any boat builder named here should be compared with Springer. I should also say that whatever horrors I may have discovered while painting relatively inexpensive boats have been matched and even topped by a couple of extremely expensive ones .

As you say , Dave Clarke has been bulding boats for a very long time and he has been very successful and Im pleased that he and many other s are managing to survive when it`s not that easy. This clearly shows that his boats very well suit the market he is aiming them at ( and that isn`t a loaded comment )

and could equally suit the person who started this off. Without more information though we can`t know that. If however I was absolutely loaded and wanted an Italian supercar I wouldn`t go to the wrong part of the market looking for one.

 

apologies just seemed you were picking on my post

[David Schweizer]

Dave harris is not dave clarke tho and dave clarke is not x r&d

True, it is me whom should re-read the thread, sorry about that. Put it down to the wine!

[Canopus36]

Dont forget the guys at Brinklow either - Steve Priest & Simon Wain for steel work along Rex Wain, David Gunby and Ken Brenchley for woodwork and fitting out.

[Phil Speight]

Dont forget the guys at Brinklow either - Steve Priest & Simon Wain for steel work along Rex Wain, David Gunby and Ken Brenchley for woodwork and fitting out.

Bang on the money again - but we still have no idea whether builders at that end of the market are relevant in this case or not ! Its easy enough , and can be quite uncontraversial to list the builders who are acknowledged to be at the very top of the tree . Who would argue with a list that included , Dave Harris, Ian Kemp, Simon Wain (and Rex) Steve Priest , Dave Gunby and the other excellent fitters at Brinklow . Keith Ball, Roger Fuller ( if he was still building ), Roger Farrington , Norton Canes and CTS ? No-one who knows a good boat could possibly complain or fault such a list. The problems start in two ways . Firstly someone will ask "Why isn`t so and so on your list?" If you think it`s because their products are overpriced and under-engineered you can`t say so , if it`s because you have no experience on which to judge you`ll get away with it ! The bigger problem comes when you are discussing less expensive boats. Honest opinions are sometimes uncomfortable at best and thoroughly dangerous at worse - so all you can do is write another list - restricted to budget or middle market boats that you know to be good. How

though do you stop an innocent first time buyer going to the wrong place if it becomes apparent they are about to ?

I really think the boat buyer must answer their own questions eventually , by intelligent research and good old common sense. Don`t spend a lot of money if you are anything but completely convinced you know enough to feel safe.

Forget it`s a boat for a while - just treat it like any other huge purchase. Look and listen , read between the lines and get a contract. One that a solicitor has approved on your behalf - not on anyone else`s.

Phil

Edited August 27, 2009 by Phil Speight

[RLWP]

Dont forget the guys at Brinklow either - Steve Priest & Simon Wain for steel work along Rex Wain, David Gunby and Ken Brenchley for woodwork and fitting out.

 

An anecdote about Brinklow.

 

One year we had Tawny Owl in their floating dry dock when one of them (don't know which) came to check up on us, probably to see if we had frozen solid (it was winter). Having checked out what we were doing he went and stared at Tawny Owl's bow for some time. After a while he said enigmatically "Well, I think I can see what they were trying to do..." and left

 

They have the same "eye" as Phil

 

Richard

[JanetH]

Being the one responsible for the original posting I find it gratifying that there is certainly still a passion out there for life on the cut. As you can see I am learning the lingo!

 

We are not looking for a traditional boat but are looking for traditional boat building skills and values. We have looked at many hulls over the past few months, some of which we would be happy to own and some not, some we can afford but would not want to buy and some we would love to have but can't justify the price.

 

We hope to end up with a boat we will be proud to own, that the builder is proud to put their name to and that will be admired by those "in the know" but we also know that everyone has very different opinions and we respect them all.

 

We look forward to seeing you on the water but this will probably not be until 2011 as Rome was not built in a day. We're not going to call the boat Rome but the end result will be worth the wait.

[Chertsey]

I suspect that you have to be around boats a lot for quite a long time before you can really discern the sorts of differences Phil is talking about, or indeed the sorts of differences that are important to you. You have to look at a lot of boats from a lot of angles and talk to a lot of people. Which kind of makes a case for getting a second hand boat in the first instance and getting out there among them. It's amazed me what I've learnt and noticed in five years or so, and more importantly that my instinct for subtleties is still being refined.

[churchward]

Roger Fuller

 

R W Davies

I see today that there is a Roger fuller boat (2006 vintage) on ABNB. Looks a very nice boat indeed not cheap but then high quality craftsmanship never is.

[WotEver]

I see today that there is a Roger fuller boat (2006 vintage) on ABNB. Looks a very nice boat indeed not cheap but then high quality craftsmanship never is.

 

Nahh, it hasn't got a bow thruster...

 

[churchward]

Nahh, it hasn't got a bow thruster...

 

Yes it has. It has got a pole on the roof!

[Albion]

Nahh, it hasn't got a bow thruster...

 

 

It's a good job you've added the smiley or it would be a dose of carbolic in the gob for you

Roger

[Phil Speight]

Yes it has. It has got a pole on the roof!

The buggers `ll live anywhere....

[Albion]

thanks for that but Norton Canes have a 3 year order book, can't wait that long!

 

Here's an opportunity for a Norton Canes without the waiting list. Advert plus video to watch:

http://www.nortoncanesboatbuilders.co.uk/b...tails.asp?id=13

Roger

[sarahavfc]

Here's an opportunity for a Norton Canes without the waiting list. Advert plus video to watch:

http://www.nortoncanesboatbuilders.co.uk/b...tails.asp?id=13

Roger

 

Oops, forgot to take that off the website. It isn't for sale anymore.

[Albion]

Oops, forgot to take that off the website. It isn't for sale anymore.

 

Cheers Sarah, that didn't take long to sell then from 03/08 until sometime recently. Good buy for someone. Incidentally, you're still showing Albion as Sale Agreed and it was sold last November

ATB to all at NC.

Roger

[sarahavfc]

Shhh...I haven't worked out how to take it off yet. I keep having to go back to the guy who built the CMS system. I think he forgot the delete button.

[Colin Smith]

We are looking at getting a narrowboat built to a sailaway stage and have looked at Canal Transport Services (CTS) at Norton Canes near Walsall. Has anyone had any experience of them recently, I know they have a good reputation and build a handsome hull. Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

If you don't have any luck closer to home, I would recommend Gem Marine Services at Kirkby near Liverpool (0151 548 4084 - ask for Fred the MD). I know they have a slot coming up and doubt you'd find a better quality build for sensible pricing. They're also excellent people to deal with; lot's of experience and financially rock-solid. I bought mine from them and it was the best decision I've ever made!

 

Good luck with your search.

 

Colin

[Phil Speight]

Yes it has. It has got a pole on the roof!

We recently painted a very prestigious ( i.e. bloody expensive - 200k -plus ) narrow boat . Shell was by somebody very famous. It had two fixed pole racks spaced out on the roof - designed to accept two poles and one plank running lengthwise from one rack to the other. Between the two, bang in the middle ( measured both front to back and across the width ) was a chimney...........

Phil

Edited August 30, 2009 by Phil Speight

[alan_fincher]

We recently painted a very prestigious ( i.e. bloody expensive - 200k -plus ) narrow boat . Shell was by somebody very famous. It had two fixed pole racks spaced out on the roof - designed to accept two poles and one plank running lengthwise from one rack to the other. Between the two, bang in the middle ( measured both front to back and across the width ) was a chimney...........

Phil

 

[tongue_in_cheek]

As long as the plank has a suitable "chimney sized" hole cut through it, I really can't see the problem with such an arrangement. Helps retain the plank on rough water, surely ?

[/tongue_in_cheek]

[andywatson]

We recently painted a very prestigious ( i.e. bloody expensive - 200k -plus ) narrow boat . Shell was by somebody very famous. It had two fixed pole racks spaced out on the roof - designed to accept two poles and one plank running lengthwise from one rack to the other. Between the two, bang in the middle ( measured both front to back and across the width ) was a chimney...........

Phil

 

1 Did you wet yourself laughing or manage to keep a straight face?

 

2 Had the owner already noticed this "gross error"?

 

3 What were the owners comments?

 

4 If brought to the builders attention, how did he respond?

(I hope he didn't blame the chimney maker)

Edited August 30, 2009 by andywatson

[Batavia]

We are not looking for a traditional boat but are looking for traditional boat building skills and values. We have looked at many hulls over the past few months, some of which we would be happy to own and some not, some we can afford but would not want to buy and some we would love to have but can't justify the price.

 

I don't know what you mean by "not looking for a traditional boat", but if you want something out of the ordinary, I would add another recommendation for Roger Farrington. He has a brilliant eye for shape and has built some uncommon boats over the years (including Batavia!). As I understand it, he does not have a huge waiting list at the minute.

 

Chris G

[Phil Speight]

1 Did you wet yourself laughing or manage to keep a straight face?

 

2 Had the owner already noticed this "gross error"?

 

3 What were the owners comments?

 

4 If brought to the builders attention, how did he respond?

(I hope he didn't blame the chimney maker)

1 ) Both - at various times - particularly when we had to grind them off.

 

2 ) Indeed he had

 

3 ) Hilarious but unprintable - he blamed the fitter rather than the shell builder.

 

4 ) I don`t know

[Lesd]

We recently painted a very prestigious ( i.e. bloody expensive - 200k -plus ) narrow boat . Shell was by somebody very famous. It had two fixed pole racks spaced out on the roof - designed to accept two poles and one plank running lengthwise from one rack to the other. Between the two, bang in the middle ( measured both front to back and across the width ) was a chimney...........

Phil

 

£200K plus narrow boat...assuming thats not a typo then the world has truely gone mad !

[alan_fincher]

£200K plus narrow boat...assuming thats not a typo then the world has truely gone mad !

Well there have been those "concept" type ones reviewed in mags some years back. Seem to recall a "Phoenix 58" in a strange shape, and with a kind of bathing platform, and a price tage (I think) of £250K. (And I thing the 58 meant it was only a 58 foot boat ?).

 

They initially wanted around £140K to £150K for both Dover and Leviathan, IIRC.

 

A different world!